New Haven pizza finds a West Coast home at Parallel Pizzeria in Dana Point

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“New Haven-style” pizza? Punk rock? Dana Point? Huh?

Decorated with vintage West Coast punk posters, the sunny and otherwise unassuming Parallel Pizzeria on the west side of PCH seems an unlikely spot to find a precisely curated regional pizza style. Yet here we are at the walk-up counter, perusing a menu that leads with clam and mashed potato pizza “pies.”

Since 1925, New Haven, Connecticut, has laid proud claim to a pizza variety invented at Frank Pepe Pizza Napoletana. The style is not unique simply for its exotic toppings and oval shape. Frank Pepe boasts a dough formula that elicits a crust – after a pass in a wood charcoal oven, mind you – calibrated for a perfect balance of exterior crisp and interior fluff.

Chef Ryan Adams ushers us to the back kitchen walk-in, where we stare into large plastic tubs filled with rounds of dough that seem to be visibly plumping before our eyes. It takes a full five days before this dough makes its way to Adams’ partner, chef James Nunn.

Did we mention punk rock? After a decade of touring as drummer for the band Guttermouth and routinely sampling pizza variations across the country, Nunn declared that Frank Pepe’s “New Haven-style” surpassed all other contenders for its novel flavors and flawless crust.

Enlisting his former mentor Adams as partner, Nunn engaged in an intense period of research and development. To accurately replicate the quality of Frank Pepe’s pie, the pair experimented with various Italian flour combinations and consulted with experts at UC Irvine on water filtration to mimic the mineral quality of East Coast water.

Named for the famous local surf break, the “Killer Dana” arrives trailing a waft of charcoal smoke. The oval pie features nubs of fresh Italian chicken sausage and chopped sweet cherry peppers generously scattered over a canny blend of Parmesan and cilantro pesto.

“East Coast Flavor, West Coast Lifestyle” is the motto here but, honestly, this is Dana Point and one will not find pizza as mindfully composed and orchestrated anywhere nearby. That includes the Greater Los Angeles area and all of the self-important, ultra-expensive, “authentic” Napoletana replicas suddenly emerging on the landscape, to say nothing of the ever-profuse “custom pizza” chains: Blaze, PizzaRev, 800 Degrees etc, etc, etc.

KILLER DANA PIZZA

Ingredients

1 pound pizza dough, store-bought

6 ounces Italian chicken sausage, removed

from casing and crumbled

4 ounces sweet peppers, store-bought, jarred

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

½ cup Parmesan, grated

1 teaspoon chile flakes

¼ cup cilantro pesto, store-bought

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ tablespoon salt

METHOD

Heat oven to 500 degrees with a pizza stone.

Let dough come to room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Work the dough and roll out until approximately one-quarter-inch thick.

Place dough onto pizza paddle sprinkled with cornmeal. Spread olive oil onto dough starting from center and working outward until ½-inch from the edge. Top dough with garlic, sweet peppers and chicken sausage. Sprinkle with salt and grated Parmesan. Slide it onto the pizza stone in preheated oven. Rotate pizza every few minutes and bake for approximately 10 minutes until the crust is nicely browned.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with chile flakes. Slice pizza into even pieces. Drizzle with cilantro pesto, sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve.

PARALLEL PIZZERIA

34255 Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 101-102, Dana Point, (949) 441-7406 :: parallelpizzeria.com

 

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